Electronic Music Box

ABSTRACT

Music data memory includes pieces of music within a group and other pieces of music outside the group. The next piece to be played is automatically determined by random table among pieces within the group. Favorite or newest piece is weighted to be more frequently played in the group. Piece in music data memory is automatically included into the group by random table. Newly downloaded piece into music data memory is included into the group by priority. Most frequently played piece is excluded from the group in place of newly included piece. Favorite or newest piece may be an exception of exclusion. Next piece is capable of being played in tempo similar to that of preceding piece by means of tempo-adjusted or piece replacement or repetition of the same piece for the purpose of continued baby cradling in synchronism with the same tempo of succeeding pieces.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. application Ser.No. 14/318,646 filed Jun. 29, 2014, which is a Continuation Applicationof U.S. application Ser. No. 13/088,362 filed Apr. 17, 2011, hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an electronic music box.

2. Description of the Related Art

In this field of the art, various attempts have been done with respectto an electronic music box.

For example, Japanese Publication No. 2003-311034 proposes a babybedside mobile combined with an electronic music box. On the other hand,Japanese Publication No. 1996-328555 proposes a music play controllingapparatus in which 1/f fluctuation is introduced into electronicallygenerated sound. Further, Japanese Publication No. 1993-73052 proposes amusic sound modulating apparatus in which a fluctuation of band andamplitude suitable for string instrument and a fluctuation of band andamplitude suitable for wind instrument are introduced, respectively, foravoiding an unnatural musical sound which would be otherwise caused byintroducing a fluctuation of the same band and same amplitude into bothstring instrument sound and wind instrument sound both electricallygenerated.

However, there still exist in this field of art many demands forimprovements of electronic music boxes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Preferred embodiment of this invention provides an electronic music boxcomfortable to listen to.

Preferred embodiment of this invention provides an electronic music boxsuitable to be incorporated into a baby bedside mobile or the like.

Preferred embodiment of this invention provides an electronic music boxcomprising a music data memory arranged to store data of a plurality ofpieces of music, a random table memory arranged to store a random table,and a controller arranged to automatically determine the next piece ofmusic to be played in accordance with the random table in the randomtable memory. According to the feature of the embodiment, painfulcirculation of a limited number of short pieces of music in thepatterned and remembered same order is eased.

In a detailed design according to the above preferred embodiment, themusic data memory includes pieces of music within a group and otherpieces of music outside the group. And, the controller is arranged toautomatically determine the next piece of music to be played among thepieces of music within the group.

According to a more detailed design of the above preferred embodiment,the controller is arranged to automatically determine a piece forinclusion into the group in accordance with the random table in therandom table memory. This is advantageous to avoid a patterned orremembered substitution of piece.

According to another more detailed design of the above preferredembodiment, the controller is arranged to automatically determine apiece for exclusion from the group in accordance with the number ofplayed times of the piece. This is advantageous to automatically removea too frequently played piece out of the group for avoiding a boringrepetition of the same piece.

According to another detailed design of the above preferred embodiment,the controller is arranged to weight a predetermined piece indetermining the next piece of music to be played, whereby the weightedpiece has a chance of more frequently played than the others. This isadvantageous to playing a favorite piece within the group.

According to still another detailed design of the above preferredembodiment, the controller is arranged to have a capability of playingthe next piece with a tempo similar to that of a preceding piece. Thisis especially advantageous in the case that the electronic music box isused for cradling a baby. In more detail, such a condition that theseries of pieces are played in the similar tempo for a considerablysufficient time period according to the above feature is more suitablein a case that a mother is sending a baby to sleep in her arms with thebaby cradled in synchronism with the music box pieces, rather than acondition that the tempo or meter changed piece by piece in every shortperiod as in an ordinary music box.

Preferred embodiment of this invention also provides an electronic musicbox comprising a music data memory arranged to store data of a pluralityof pieces of music, the stored pieces of music including pieces of musicwithin a group and other pieces of music outside the group, and acontroller arranged to automatically determine the next piece of musicto be played among the pieces of music within the group. This feature isboth advantageous in getting familiar with the limited number of piecesin the group and in avoiding an excessive monotony by means of making asubstitution of pieces in the group possible.

In a detailed design according to the above preferred embodiment, thecontroller is arranged to automatically determine the piece to beexcluded from the group in accordance with the number of played times ofthe piece. This is advantageous to automatically remove a too frequentlyplayed piece out of the group for avoiding a boring repetition of thesame piece.

According to another detailed design of the above preferred embodiment,the controller is arranged to weight a predetermined piece among thepieces within the group in determining a piece to be excluded from thegroup, whereby the weighted piece has a less chance of being excludedthan the others. This is advantageous to keep a favorite or newlyincluded piece in the group in longer time than the other pieces.

According to still another detailed design of the above preferredembodiment, the controller is arranged to weight a predetermined pieceamong the pieces outside the group in determining a piece to be includedinto the group, whereby the weighted piece has a priority of beingincluded to the others. This is advantageous to include a piece newlydownloaded from an outside server into the group prior to the otherpieces outside the group, for example.

According to a further detailed design of the above preferredembodiment, the controller is arranged to automatically determine thepiece to be excluded from the group with discrimination between pieces.An example of the discrimination is by the number of played times of thepiece. This is advantageous to remove a too frequently played piece outof the group in higher priority for avoiding a boring repetition of thesame piece.

Another example of the discrimination is an exception to a predeterminedpiece not to be determined for exclusion. This is advantageous toprevent a favorite piece from being excluded from the group, forexample.

Still another example of the discrimination is between a piece newlyincluded into the group and other older pieces in the group. This isadvantageous to exclude other older pieces from the group prior toexcluding the newly included piece in the group.

According to still another detailed design of the above preferredembodiment, the electronic music box further comprises a communicatorarranged to receive data of a piece of music from outside server forstorage in the music data memory, wherein the controller is arranged toautomatically determine a piece to be included into the group so that apiece received by the communicator to be newly stored in the music datamemory is given priority to other older pieces stored in the music datamemory. Thus, the newly received piece will have an earlier chance to beplayed.

According to further detailed design of the above preferred embodiment,the controller is arranged to excluded from the group a piece of a tempodifferent from those of other pieces in the group and to include intothe group a piece of a tempo similar to those of other pieces in thegroup in place of the excluded piece. Thus, the controller cansuccessively play pieces in the group with a similar tempo. This isadvantageous for a mother who is sending a baby to sleep in her arms tocradle the baby in synchronism with the music box pieces for aconsiderably long time.

Preferred embodiment of this invention further provides an electronicmusic box comprising a music data memory arranged to store data of aplurality of pieces of music, and a controller arranged to automaticallydetermine the next piece of music to be played, the controller beingarranged to have a capability of playing the next piece with a temposimilar to that of a preceding piece.

For example, the controller is arranged to adopt a piece of a temposimilar to that of the preceding piece to serve as the next piece inplace of a piece of a tempo different from that of the preceding piece.Thus, the controller is capable of playing the next piece with a temposimilar to that of a preceding piece.

In another example, the controller is arranged to modify the tempo ofthe next piece into a tempo similar to that of the preceding piece. Inthis manner, the controller is also capable of playing the next piecewith a tempo similar to that of a preceding piece.

In accordance with a still another example, the controller is arrangedto have a first mode of sequentially playing the plurality of differentpiece one by one and a second mode of repeating the preceding piece asthe next piece. In the second mode above, the controller is also capableof playing the next piece with a tempo similar to that of a precedingpiece in one of the most simplified manner.

Preferred embodiment of this invention still further provides anelectronic music box comprising a sequencer, a sound source controlledby the sequencer and music box signal output capable of converting theoutput from the sound source into sound signal for powering a speaker byway of an amplifier. The electronic music box further comprises amodifying function unit for introducing 1/f fluctuation into the musicat one or more of various stages of the music box, such as basicsequencer output, expression modifying data to cause ritardando or temporubato, sound attenuating data for chime sound or the like, and volumeof final sound signal.

Other features, elements, arrangements, steps, characteristics andadvantages according to this invention will be readily understood fromthe detailed description of the preferred embodiment in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings.

The above description should not be deemed to limit the scope of thisinvention, which should be properly determined on the basis of theattached claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the electronic music box systemaccording to an embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the detail of music box signalgenerator 16 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a basic flowchart showing the function carried out by babybedside mobile controller 8 of the embodiment in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the detailed function of the initialstart-up and setting process of step S2 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the function carried out by signalgeneration controller 88 in music box signal generator 16 in FIG. 2

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the detailed function of the ritardandomodification process of step S96 in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the detailed function of the tempo rubatomodification process of step S98 in FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the electronic music box systemaccording to an embodiment of this invention. The system includes babybedside mobile 2 with electronic music box function, cellular phone 4and music data server 6. Baby bedside mobile 2 is controlled by babybedside mobile controller 8 having a micro computer. Memory 10 storescomputer programs for the operation of baby bedside mobile controller 8and also various data relating to the control of baby bedside mobile 2.Baby bedside mobile 2 includes a set of mobile elements 12 which issupported by rail of the baby bed to be hanged over the head of a babyin bed. Baby bedside mobile 2 is arranged to rotate the set of mobileelements 12 and to operate music box in conjugation with the rotation ofthe set of mobile elements 12.

Operation portion 14 is provided to be manually operated for variouspurposes such as turning on and off baby bedside mobile 2, adjusting thevolume of music box, selecting music, receiving music data and samplingsound, the detail of the music selection being to be explained late inmore detail. If baby bedside mobile 2 is turned on by means of operatingportion 14, baby bedside mobile controller 8 have the set of mobileelements 12 start to rotate, and music box signal generator 16 start togenerate a predetermined music box signal, which is transmitted toamplifier 18 to cause music sound from speaker 20.

Upon generation of music box signal, every timing of the generated tonesof note in the music are modified one by one to slightly fluctuate inaccordance with 1/f fluctuation data sequentially outputted from 1/ffluctuation data memory 22. The starting point of the sequence of 1/ffluctuation data is differently determined every time at random inaccordance with random table outputted from random table memory 24.Thus, the artificiality of electronically generated music or painfulrepetition of the patterned same short music is eased to provide a babywith a pleasant musical environment. The arrangement for achieving themodification according to 1/f fluctuation will be explained later inmore detail.

A plurality of pieces of music data are stored in music data memory 26,baby bedside mobile controller 8 reading out the pieces one by one in arandom order determined by random table memory 24 and transmitting themusic data of the read piece to music box signal generator 16. Thus,painful circulation of a limited number of short pieces of music in thepatterned and remembered same order is eased. The random number isoutputted from random table memory 24 by means of specifying addressesof random table memory 24 one by one in a predetermined sequentialorder. Since the random numbers are assigned to the addresses,respectively, according to a random table, the output of random tablememory 24 gotten in the above manner comes to random table. The seriesof numbers are indeed to be repeated in the same order if the specifiedaddress is back where it started, which means that the output of randomtable memory 24 is not a true random table with the repetition takeninto consideration. However, the size of the random table issufficiently so large that a human being cannot remember the order ofthe numbers to recognize the pattern of repetition, which means that theoutput of random table memory 24 is substantially a random number for ahuman being. The arrangement for changing the order of pieces accordingto the random table will be explained later in more detail.

The data of a piece of music provided to music box signal generator 16includes information of tune and timing for generating each tone in themusic. Four tones of notes of the music are able to be simultaneouslygenerated in maximum, as a chord for example, form music box signalgenerator 16 in accordance with the data transmitted from baby bedsidemobile controller 8. As will be explained later, the tone generated frommusic box signal generator 16 is of an attenuating nature, such as soundof a chime, a piano and a picked string instrument. Therefore, the dataof the piece of music provided to music box signal generator 16 does notinclude information of length of each tone in the music. Further, sincea tone once generated is not muted in the course of the attenuation, thetail of the former tone may naturally overlap the head of a new tonewhich is successively generated with short interval.

However, upon generation of the tone of the attenuating nature frommusic box signal generator 16, the attenuation of each tone is modifiedone by one to fluctuate in accordance with 1/f fluctuation datasequentially outputted from 1/f fluctuation data memory 22. Thus, thedegree and manner of attenuation of each tone slightly changes one byone. The data of a piece of music provided to music box signal generator16 does not include any detailed information of expression of the music,such as tempo rubato or ritardando, but includes mere mechanicalinformation of tune and timing for generating each tone or event in themusic, which reduce the capacity or amount of data. By way ofcompensation, music box signal generator 16 automatically carries outdetailed expression of the music, such as tempo rubato or ritardando, bymeans of adding a series of automatic delay in response to simpleinformation of timing to start the tempo rubato or ritardando, which isincluded in the data of a piece of music provided to music box signalgenerator 16. The automatic delay is also modified one by one tofluctuate in accordance with 1/f fluctuation data sequentially outputtedfrom 1/f fluctuation data memory 22 to avoid a crude expression causedby stereotype tempo rubato or ritardando. The volume of music generatedby music box signal generator 16 is further modified to fluctuate inaccordance with 1/f fluctuation data sequentially outputted from 1/ffluctuation data memory 22. The various modifications by means of 1/ffluctuation data will be explained later in more detail.

The plurality of pieces of music stored in music data memory 26 can besubstituted within the capacity of memory. The introduction of new piecedata from an outside source is possible by means of baby bedside mobileshort-range communicator 28. For example, cellar phone 4 is capable ofdownloading a new piece of music from music data server 6 throughinternet 30, the downloaded new piece data being then transmitted tobaby bedside mobile 2 for storage in music data memory 26.

An addition of new piece of music to music data memory 26 is alsopossible by means of sampling hum or the like through sampler withmicrophone 32. In more detail, the sound data gotten by sampler 34 isintroduced into pitch/timing extractor and automatic arranger 36, inwhich pitch and timing of start or change in tone consisting the hum orthe like is extracted. Upon the extraction, a tone with a pitch out of astandard chromatic scale or timing out of a standard beat automaticallycorrected into the closest note on the standard chromatic scale and thestandard beat in unit of a halftone and a sixteenth note. In the casethat pitch and/or timing of tones are continuously unstable in aconsiderable degree, it is judged that the hum or the like is not sungin accordance with the intention of the singer. In this case,accordingly, a group of tones of questionable melody line or beat ormeter is automatically corrected in unit of the group. If the series oftones of the extracted pitch/timing with correction made if necessary isa monophony, pitch/timing extractor and automatic arranger 36automatically analyses chords suitable to the monophony to add apredetermined simple accompaniment thereto. The above automaticcorrection of tone or a group of tones and automatic addition of theaccompaniment is referred to as “automatic arrangement”.

Cellar phone controller 38 having a micro computer is for functioning inaccordance with computer program stored in memory 42 to originally andmainly control the entire cellar phone 4 by means of phone functionblock 40. Operation portion 44 and display 46 are also originally andmainly arranged for the functions of cellar phone 4 carried out by phonefunction block 40. Operation portion 44 is, however, advantageouslyutilized for operating cellar phone 4 to download the music data and totransmit the downloaded music data to baby bedside mobile 2 by means ofcellular phone short-range communicator 45. Also, display 46 isadvantageously utilized for displaying necessary information inconjugation with the operation at operating portion 44. Cellular phoneshort-range communicator 45 and baby bedside mobile short-rangecommunicator 28 are based on the infrared light communication system orshort-range radio transmission system. Thus, cellar phone 4 isincorporated into the electronic music box system.

As has been apparent from the above explanation, phone function block 40of cellar phone 4 is capable of communicating with music server 6 by wayof internet 30. Music server 6 including server controller 48, musicdatabase 50 and input/output interface 52 serves as a portal sitecapable of providing various free information under management of acollaborated baby goods industry. The portal site may also be incooperation with a public healthcare and medial organization formother-child health administration. If a suitable registration is madein music data server 6 with an identification number (ID) and apassword, the music data can be delivered from music data server inaccordance with terms and conditions recited in a contract upon purchaseof baby bedside mobile 2. Further, in the case of the above mentionedcooperation of music data server 6 with a public healthcare and medialorganization, if cellar phone 4 logins with the ID and password toupload under anonymity the new growth and healthcare data for a baby,music data server 6 provides cellar phone 4 with the newest statisticalgrowth and healthcare data created on the basis of data uploaded underthe same condition from a great number of cellar phones including cellarphone 4.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the detail of music box signalgenerator 16 in FIG. 1 with some relating outside blocks also shown, inwhich the same identification number is given to common block in FIG. 1and FIG. 2 with explanation of the common block omitted in FIG. 2 aslong as long as unnecessary. Music box signal generator 16 is basicallyarranged to sequentially (and simultaneously in the case of chord orpolyphony) generate music box signal on the basis of sound source 54 ata suitable pitch and timing directed by a sequencer. The sequencerincludes basic sequencer 56 for generating basic pitch/timing signal tospecify a pitch of sound source 54 at a correct timing in accordancewith a piece of music data transmitted from baby bedside mobilecontroller 8. The sequencer further includes 1/f fluctuation delay 58for introducing a delay with 1/f fluctuation to the timing of the basicpitch/timing signal generated from basic sequencer 56. The sequencerstill further includes modification sequencer 60 for modifying the 1/ffluctuation delayed pitch/timing signal coming from 1/f fluctuationdelay 58 to add expression to the music upon necessity. The sequenceralso includes 1/f fluctuation ritardando section 62 and 1/f fluctuationtempo rubato section 64 for carry out the addition of expression incooperation with modification sequencer 60.

Upon generation of the basic pitch/timing signal by basic sequencer 56,the 1/f fluctuation data is loaded from 1/f fluctuation data memory 22to 1/f fluctuation data register 66 prior to the start of generation ofthe basic pitch/timing signal by basic sequencer 56. 1/f fluctuationdata sequential output 68 sequentially outputs 1/f fluctuation data bymeans of sequentially addressing 1/f fluctuation data register 66 insynchronism with the basic pitch/timing signal from basic sequencer 56.In the above function, the first address of 1/f fluctuation data memory22 to be specified by 1/f fluctuation data sequential output 68 isdetermined by the random number given by random table memory 24. If thesequential addressing reaches the last address, the addressing returnsto the first address to go in cycles, 1/f fluctuation data sequentialoutput 68 thus continuing to output 1/f fluctuation data as long as thebasic pitch/timing signal comes from basic sequencer 56. The dataoutputted from 1/f fluctuation data sequential output 68 in the mannerdescribed above may not be a true 1/f fluctuation data since it has thecyclic regularity. However, 1/f fluctuation data sequential output 68can be considered to substantially outputs 1/f fluctuation data becausethe size of data outputted in series during one cycle is so large that ahuman being can never remember the order of the fluctuation or perceiveits regularity. Further, by means of changing the starting point of thesequence of 1/f fluctuation data every time in accordance with randomtable, the pattern of 1/f fluctuation at the beginning portion of thesequence of 1/f fluctuation data, which would attract the attention andotherwise repeatedly started from the same point, is avoided to belearned.

1/f fluctuation delay 58 introduces 1/f fluctuation into the timing ofthe basic pitch/timing signal generated from basic sequencer 56 inaccordance with the data form 1/f fluctuation data sequential output 68.In other words, the basic pitch/timing signal passes through 1/ffluctuation delay 58 with its timing differently delayed depending onthe 1/f fluctuation data coming from 1/f fluctuation data sequentialoutput 68 when the basic pitch/timing signal arrives at 1/f fluctuationdelay 58. The pitch/timing signal thus delayed is transmitted from 1/ffluctuation delay 58 to modification sequencer 60. Modificationsequencer 60 is normally directs pitch and timing of music box signal tobe generated by sound source 54 in accordance with the delayedpitch/timing signal transmitted from 1/f fluctuation delay 58 unless nodirection comes from 1/f fluctuation ritardando section 62 and 1/ffluctuation tempo rubato section 64.

On the other hand, if the data of a piece transmitted from baby bedsidemobile controller 8 includes data for starting retardando at the endingportion of the piece, basic sequencer 56 sends basic pitch/timing signalsucceeding the timing of the starting point for retardando to 1/ffluctuation ritardando section 62, in which a gradually growing delaysaccording to data in retardando data holder 70 are successivelyintroduced to the pitch/timing signal transmitted from modificationsequencer 60 for adding ending expression. During the retardando, 1/ffluctuation ritardando section 62 further introduces 1/f fluctuationinto the retradando timing of the pitch/timing signal in accordance withthe data form 1/f fluctuation data sequential output 68. Thepitch/timing signal with the retardando and 1/f fluctuation introducedis sequentially retuned to modification sequencer 60 to direct pitch andtiming of music box signal to be generated by sound source 54. In thecase of retardando above, 1/f fluctuation ritardando section 62continued to introduce the retardando delay till the end of the piece.

On the contrary, if the data of a piece transmitted from baby bedsidemobile controller 8 includes data for starting and ending tempo rubatoin midstream of the piece, basic sequencer 56 sends basic pitch/timingsignal succeeding the timing of the starting point for tempo rubato to1/f fluctuation tempo rubato section 64, in which forward or backwarddeviations from in-tempo timings according to data in rubato data holder72 are successively introduced one by one to the pitch/timing signaltransmitted from modification sequencer 60 for adding tempo rubatoexpression to the piece. During the tempo rubato, 1/f fluctuation temporubato section 64 further introduces 1/f fluctuation into the deviatedtiming of the pitch/timing signal in accordance with the data form 1/ffluctuation data sequential output 68. The pitch/timing signal with thetempo rubato and 1/f fluctuation introduced is sequentially retuned tomodification sequencer 60 to direct pitch and timing of music box signalto be generated by sound source 54. In the case of tempo rubato above,modification sequencer 60 returns from the control with 1/f fluctuationtempo rubato section 64 to the normal control at the end of the temporubato according to the data from rubato data holder 72.

Sound source 54 includes music box sound source data holder 74 keepingmusic box sound source data in 3-octave of twelve-tone scale andattenuation data holder 76 keeping attenuation data to realize music boxsound of an attenuating nature, such as sound of a chime, a piano and apicked string instrument. In response to the direction by modificationsequencer 60, music box sound source data holder 74 outputs music boxsound source data of the specified pitch at the specified timing inaccordance with a piece of music. The attenuation data kept byattenuation data holder 76 includes transition data representingattenuation of hammered sound or picked string sound to its vanish,which is combined with the music box sound source data in combiner 78 tobe outputted as an attenuating music box sound of the specified pitch atthe specified timing. During the attenuation, 1/f fluctuationattenuation modifier 80 further modifies the data in attenuation dataholder 76 to introduce 1/f fluctuation into the attenuation inaccordance with the data form 1/f fluctuation data register 66. Thus,the attenuating music box sound from combiner 78 is accompanied by 1/ffluctuation. In other words, 1/f fluctuation attenuation modifier 80mainly influences both on the change in volume of the hammered or pickedstring sound and speed of the attenuation thereof to avoid uniformity ofthe hammered or picked string sound and its attenuation.

The output form combiner 78 is converted into sound signal by music boxsignal output 82, which is in turn to be transmitted to 1/f fluctuationvolume modifier 84 to introduce 1/f fluctuation into the volume of thesound signal. In more detail, 1/f fluctuation volume modifier 84 adds1/f fluctuating change in the volume to the sound signal from music boxsignal output 82 by means of 1/f fluctuation signal generator 86 whichgenerates time varying signal with 1/f fluctuation in accordance withthe data form 1/f fluctuation data register 66. The 1/f fluctuatingchange in the volume serves as the musical vibrato of the music boxsound. Signal generation controller 88 controls the above mentionedvarious functions and their cooperation in music box signal generator16.

FIG. 3 is a basic flowchart showing the function carried out by babybedside mobile controller 8 of the embodiment in FIGS. 1 and 2, the flowbeing arranged to start in response to the power on operation or settingoperation at operating portion 14, the setting operation including thenew music piece downloading operation as will be explained later. If theflow starts, step S2 comes first to carry out the initial start-up andsetting process of baby bedside mobile 2. If the initial start-up andsetting process is over and no further setting operation is done for apredetermined time, e.g., 3 seconds, the flow automatically advances tostep S4. Thus, the power on operation is followed by a predeterminedwaiting time for allowing a setting operation since there is a highpossibility of setting operation upon the power on operation. However,the flow automatically advances to step S4 in the predetermined time ifthere is no further operation, which makes it possible for a user whodoes not know any manner of operation at all to start the function ofbaby bedside mobile 2 accompanied by the play of music box by means of amere power on operation. Step 2 can be reached any time desired torestart the flow of FIG. 3 by means of a setting operation even in thecourse of playing of music box. Step S2 will be explained later in moredetail.

In step S4, it is checked whether or not a new piece has beendownloaded. If the download is confirmed in step S4, the flow goes tostep S6 to wait the new piece for random play. This is for increasingthe frequency for the newly downloaded piece to be played under randomselection, the detail of which will be explained later. In next step S8,the newly downloaded piece is included into the play group insubstitution for the most frequently played piece which is to beexcluded from the play group, in which the favorite nominated piece isexcepted from the exclusion even if the frequency of play is high, theflow then going to step S10. The above mentioned “play group” means agroup of pieces consisting of a predetermined number, e.g. five pieces,nominated for play in sequence. As will be explained later in moredetail, one of the pieces in the play group is sequentially selected oneby one at random. The newly nominated piece into the play group is sowaited as to be selected in higher probability under the randomselection. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S4 that no newpiece has been downloaded, the flow directly goes to step S10.

In step S10, it is checked whether or not the timing for starting toplay the next piece in the play group has come. As will be explainedlater, time count is started after loading the music data for the formerpiece to know whether or not the playing time for the piece has over.Step S10 is to check whether a blank intermission time, e.g. 2.5seconds, has past after the playing time for the former piece was over.If it is determined in step S10 that the timing for starting the nextpiece has come, the flow goes to step S12 to load a random number fromrandom table memory at an address in accordance with the order for play.And, in step S14, a piece corresponding to the loaded random number inthe play group is outputted to music box signal generator 16. Further,in step S16, the number of times for play of the piece is incremented,and the counting of the playing time for the piece is started, the flowthen going to step S18.

In step S18, it is checked whether or not the number of times for playof the piece reaches a predetermined number, e. g., two hundreds, If thepredetermined number has been reached, the flow goes from step S18 tostep S20 to check whether or not the piece is nominated as a favorite.If not, the flow goes to step S22 to exclude the piece, the number oftimes for play of which reaches a predetermined number, from the playgroup. Next in step S24, step S12 a random number is loaded from randomtable memory at an address in accordance with the order forsubstitution. And, in step S26, a piece corresponding to the loadedrandom number is selected from pieces off the play group in music datamemory 26 as a substitution. Further in step 26, the selected piece isincluded into the play group, the flow then going to step S28. On theother hand, if it is not determined in step S18 that the number of timesfor play of the piece reaches a predetermined number, or if it isdetermined in step S20 that the piece is nominated as a favorite, theflow directly goes to step S28. Further, if it is not determined in stepS20 that the timing for starting the next piece has come, the flow alsogoes to step S28 directly.

In step S28, it is checked whether or not an operation for favoritenomination or cancellation thereof is made. If such an operation isdetected in step SS28, the flow goes to step S30 to switch favoritesetting between nomination and cancellation as to a specific piece whichis being played at that time or has ended to be played with the nextpiece not started yet, the flow then going to step S32. On the otherhand, if it is not determined in step S28 that any operation forfavorite nomination or cancellation thereof is made, the flow directlygoes to step S32. In step S32, it is checked whether or not the poweroff operation is made. If not, the flow goes back to step S4 to repeatthe loop of step S4 to step S32 to cope with the play of the next piecein the play group, or the inclusion of a new piece into the play group,or substitution of a piece in the play group, or the like. On the otherhand, if it is determined in step S32 that the power off operation ismade, the flow goes to the end, which stops the play of music box.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the detailed function of the initialstart-up and setting process of step S2 in FIG. 3. If the flow starts,step S42 comes first to carry out the initial start-up and initial checkof various functions of baby bedside mobile 2, the flow then going tostep S44. In step S44, it is checked whether or not the predeterminedtime period, e.g., 3 seconds as mentioned above, succeeding thecompletion of step S42 has been over. If not the flow goes back to stepS46 to check whether or not any operation other than power on operationis made. If no operation is detected in step S46, the flow goes back tostep S44 to repeat steps S44 and S46 to wait for the predetermined timeperiod.

If any operation within the predetermined time period is detected instep S46, the flow goes to step S48 to check whether or not theoperation is a changing operation for the weight to be added to thenewly downloaded piece. If the setting operation is detected in stepS48, the flow goes to step S50 to carry out weight changing process forchanging the weight for random number assigned to the new piece. Here,relationships among the random number, a piece to which the randomnumber is assigned, and the weighting of the piece are explained. In acase that a play group consists of evenly weighted five pieces andrandom numbers of two-digit are prepared for example, twenty numbers of00 to 19 are assigned to the first piece. In the similar manner, thenumbers of 20 to 39 are assigned to the second piece, the numbers of 40to 59 to the third piece, the numbers of 60 to 79 to the fourth piece,and the numbers of 80 to 99 to the fifth piece, respectively. And one ofrandom numbers 00 to 99 is loaded one by one to select a piece one byone to which the number equal to the loaded random number is assigned.On the contrary, if the new piece is triply weighted for example, fortythree numbers of 00 to 42 are assigned to the new piece. In contrastthereto, the fourteen numbers of 43 to 56 are assigned to the old firstpiece, the fourteen numbers of 57 to 70 to the old second piece, thefourteen numbers of 71 to 84 to the old third piece, and the fifteennumbers of 85 to 99 to the old fourth piece, respectively. Thus, thenumbers assigned to the new piece are about three times as many as thoseassigned to the old pieces so that the new piece is selected with tripleprobability of that of the old pieces in response to the load of randomfigure. The assignment of the numbers to each piece is changed to shiftpiece to piece every time when the substitution of a piece for the playgroup is carried out to avoid such a case that the same numbers arecontinued to be assigned to the same piece. The weight for random numberchanging process in step S50 is to optionally change in advance theweight to be added to the new piece, for example, double to triple, orquadruple to even, or the like, the changing operation in advance beingpossible at operation portion 44.

Further in step S52, weight for play number of times changing process iscarried out. For example, in the case that the threshold of play numberof times to remove a piece from the play group for substitution is threehundred, the threshold for the new piece would be nine hundred if thenew piece is triply weight as to the play number of times. By means ofsuch a weighting, the new piece will not be removed from the play groupfor substitution until it will have been played triple number of timesin comparison with the old pieces. Thus, the opportunities for new pieceto be played are is increased with the removal reprieved. The weight forplay number of times changing process in step S52 is to optionallychange in advance the weight to be added to the new piece, the changingoperation in advance for step S52 being also possible at operationportion 44. If the changing processes in steps S50 and S52 arecompleted, the flow goes to step S54. On the other hand, if it is notdetermined in step S48 that the operation is a changing operation forthe weight to be added to the newly downloaded piece, the flow directlygoes to step S54.

In step S54, it is checked whether or not an operation for the cradlingtempo unification setting is made. According to the embodiment, piecesin the play group are played in sequence determined by the randomnumber, in which there is no limitation to the selection of pieces to beincluded in the play group for avoiding an excessive monotony.Accordingly, there may ordinary be a case that a waltz piece follows aquadruple tune in Andante. Further, a piece of music box is arrangedinto a short composition less than one minute. This means that babybedside mobile 2 normally plays music box pieces in sequence in such amanner that the tempo and meter vary piece to piece in a short periodless than one minute. However, in a special case that a mother issending a baby to sleep in her arms with the baby cradled in synchronismwith the music box pieces, the series of pieces are desired to be playedin the same tempo for a considerably sufficient time period rather thana case that the tempo or meter of the series of pieces vary in everyshort period such as one minute or less. The cradling tempo unificationsetting, the setting or not of which is checked in step S54 is to bedone when the tempo unification is desired is the special case above forexample.

If the cradling tempo unification setting is detected in step SS54, theflow goes to step S56 to copy and save the normal play group data at thetime when the setting is made. Next in step S58, any piece which isinadequate to be played in the cradling unification tempo is excludedfrom the play group to be replaced by another adequate piece of aninherent tempo resembling those of other pieces in the play group. Forexample, if the majority of pieces are of Andante, an Allegretto pieceis replaced by another Andante piece because the inherent Allegrettopiece would become spiritless if played in Andante due to theunification. Further in step S60, any piece of an inadequate meter forthe unification is excluded from the play group to be replaced byanother adequate meter. For example, if the majority of pieces are ofslow waltz rhythm, a piece of slow compound double meter ( 6/8 beat) isinadequate to unify it to slow waltz rhythm. In other words, if one beatof the double meter is adjusted to synchronism with one beat of the slowwaltz, the inherent meter would be confused. Or, if ⅛ beat is adjustedto synchronism with one beat of the slow waltz, an oddly slow compounddouble meter piece would result. In such a case, the compound doublemeter piece is excluded from the play group to be replaced by anotheradequate slow waltz piece in step S60. And, in step S62, datamodification of the pieces of the resembling tempo and meter in the playgroup as the result of the substitution in step S58 and step S60 iscarried out to finally unify the tempo of the pieces existing in theplay group into the tempo of cradling, the flow then going to step S64.Thus, under the cradling tempo unification setting, the series of piecesin the modified play group are played in the same tempo for aconsiderably sufficient time period.

On the other hand, if is it is not determined in step S54 that theoperation for cradling tempo unification setting is made, the flowadvances to step S66 to adopt the normal play group to go to step S64.In the case that the normal play group has been formally copied andsaved, the saved normal play group is retrieved to replace the cradlingtempo unified play group as the function of step S66 in response to stepS54 functioning to detect that the former cradling tempo unificationsetting is cancelled.

In step S64, it is checked whether or not the operation detected in step46 corresponds to an operation for downloading new piece is made. In thecase that the new piece downloading operation is detected, the flow goesfrom step S64 to step S68 to carry out new piece input process, the flowgoing to the end in response to the completion of the new piece inputprocess in step S68. The termination of the flow of FIG. 4 means theadvance of flow from step S2 to S4 in FIG. 3 for carrying out the playof music box. On the other hand, if the operation to download new pieceis not determined in step S64, the flow instantly goes to the end.Further if it is determined in step S44 that the predetermined timeperiod has been over, the flow instantly goes to the end. The flow ofFIG. 4 may so modified that the flow goes back to step S44 from stepsS64 and S68 and that the flow only goes to the end by way of step S44when the predetermined time period counted from the completion of thelast function caused by the operation other than power on operation isover.

In the flowchart in FIG. 4, cradling tempo unification function about aplurality of pieces is explained in steps S56 to S62. However, theembodiment is not limited to the flowchart, but various modification ofthe cradle mode function is possible. According to the most simplifiedmodification, for example, the most adequate temperate piece forcradling is to be selected among the existing play group in response tothe cradling setting detected in step S54. And, the selected piece is tobe simply repeated.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the function carried out by signalgeneration controller 88 in music box signal generator 16 in Fig.2, theflow being arranged to start in response to start of function of babybedside mobile controller 8. If the flow starts, step S72 comes first toload 1/f fluctuation data from 1/f fluctuation data memory 22 to 1/ffluctuation data register 66. Next, in step S74, a random number formrandom table memory 24 to advance to step S76 for determining theinitiating address of 1/f fluctuation data register 66 in accordancewith the loaded random number.

Further in step S78, 1/f fluctuation is introduced into the attenuationof each music box sound by 1/f fluctuation attenuation modifier 80 whichmodifies the data in attenuation data holder 76 in accordance with thedata form 1/f fluctuation data register 66. And, in step S80, 1/ffluctuation signal generator 86 is directed to starts generation of timevarying signal with 1/f fluctuation in accordance with the data form 1/ffluctuation data register 66 to introduce 1/f fluctuation into thevolume of the sound signal passing through 1/f fluctuation volumemodifier 84, the flow then going to step S82.

In step S82, it is checked whether or not the data of a piece istransmitted from baby bedside mobile controller 8 to basic sequencer 56.If it is determined in step S82 that the data of piece is transmitted,the flow goes to step S84 to check whether or not timing for generatinga tone of note in the music comes in accordance with pitch/timing signalfrom basic sequencer 56. If it is determined in step S84 that the timingcomes, the flow goes to step S86 to load one data from 1/f fluctuationdata sequential output 68 in synchronism with the timing of generatingtone, the flow then going to step S88. In step S88, 1/f fluctuationdelay 58 introduces 1/f fluctuation delay into the timing of the basicpitch/timing signal generated from basic sequencer 56 in accordance withthe loaded data form 1/f fluctuation data sequential output 68, the flowthen going to step S90.

In step S90, it is checked whether or not the music is duringritardando. Here, it should be noted that “during ditardando” means toinclude a moment that the information of timing to start the ritardandois just detected. If it is not determined in step S90 that the music isduring ritardando, the flow goes to step S92 to check whether or not themusic is during tempo rubato. Thus, if the music is not duringritardnado nor tempo rubato, the flow directly goes to step S94. Thedetermination whether or not the music is during ritadando or temporubato is possible by checking whether or not the basic pitch/timingsignal coming to modification sequencer 60 includes a timing signalindicative of the start of ritadando or tempo rubato or by checkingwhether or not a specific flag explained later is made on by the startof ritadando or tempo rubato. In step S94, a direction from modificationsequencer 60 is made to have music box sound source data holder generatea music box signal of a pitch and timing in response to the pitch/timingsignal originated from basic sequencer and 1/f fluctuation delayedthrough step S88, the flow then going to step S100. On the other hand,if it is determined in step S90 that the music is during ritardando, theflow goes to step S96 to carry out ritadando modification process, inwhich the pitch/timing signal modified in step S88 to include 1/ffluctuation delay is further modified to include ritardando delay, theflow then going to step S94. On the contrary, if it is determined instep S92 that the music is during tempo rubato, the flow goes to stepS98 to carry out tempo rubato modification process, in which thepitch/timing signal modified in step S88 to include 1/f fluctuationdelay is further modified to include tempo rubato expression, the flowthen going to step S94. The ritardando modification process in step S96and the tempo rubato modification process in step S98 will be explainedlater in more detail, respectively.

In step S100, it is checked whether or not the music box signal of apitch and timing directed in step S94 is for the timing of the end ofpiece. If not the flow goes back to step S84. On the other hand, if itis not determined in step S84 that timing for generating a tone of notein the music comes in accordance with pitch/timing signal from basicsequencer 56, the flow directly goes to step S100. Also in this case,the flow goes back to step S84. Thus, unless the end of piece isdetected in step S100, the flow repeats the loop of steps S84 to S100 towait for next timing for generating a tone of note in the music. And, ifthe next timing comes, the flow basically carries out steps S86 to S92and also step S96 or step S98 where necessary to reach step S94 forcarrying out the direction to have music box sound source data holder 74generate one tone (or a group of simultaneous tones in the case of chordor polyphony).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S100 that the music boxsignal of a pitch and timing directed in step S94 is for the timing ofthe end of piece, the flow goes to step S102 to check whether or notbaby bedside mobile controller 2 is made into rest state. If not, butbaby bedside mobile controller 2 is in operation, the flow goes back tostep S82. On the other hand, if it is not determined in step S82 thatthe data of a piece is transmitted from baby bedside mobile controller 8to basic sequencer 56, the flow directly goes to step S102. Thus, unlessbaby bedside mobile controller 2 is made into rest state, the loop ofsteps S82 to S102 is repeated for continuing to play music box piecesone by one. By the way, if it is determined in step S100 that the musicbox signal of a pitch and timing directed in step S94 is for the timingof the end of piece, the data of piece the play of which has beencompleted is deleted with the flag indicative of during ritardando ortempo rubato put down if any.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the detailed function of the ritardandomodification process of step S96 in FIG. 5. If the flow starts, stepS112 comes first to check whether or not ritardando has been alreadystarted. If not, the flow gees to step S114 to load a unit ritradandodata and to make the ritardando flag on since step S114 is caused by thecase that the flow in FIG. 5 comes from step S90 to step S96 in responseto the detection of the information of timing to start the ritardandowhich is just detected. Next in step S116, the initial delay is set atan interval corresponding to the unit ritardando data. And, in stepS118, one of 1/f fluctuation data is loaded from 1/f fluctuation datasequential output 68 to modify the delay to introduce 1/f fluctuation.On the basis of the function by the above steps, ritardando timingsignal modified with 1/f fluctuation is outputted in step S124. Furtherin step S126, the number elapsed beats counted from the initiation ofritardando is incremented, the flow then going to the end. In accordancewith the ritardando timing signal modified with 1/f fluctuationoutputted in step S124, the direction is made in step S94 in FIG. 5 tohave music box sound source data holder generate the music box signal ofa pitch and timing during ritadando.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S112 that ritardando hasbeen already started, the flow goes to step S120 to load the number ofelapsed beats counted from the initiation of ritardando since step S120is caused by the case that the flow comes from step S90 to step S96 inresponse to the detection of the ritardand flag formerly made on in stepS114 upon initiation of the ritardando. Next in step S122, the delay isset at an interval corresponding to the unit ritardando data multipliedby the loaded number of elapsed beats, the flow then going to step S118.In this case, a similar process to that in the case of initial delay iscarried out in the steps led by step S118 except that the delay intervalis different. According to the manner explained above, the flow in FIG.6 is repeatedly carried out with the number of elapsed beats incrementedto increase the delay every time when the timing for generating a notecomes, the retardando being thus achieved.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the detailed function of the tempo rubatomodification process of step S98 in FIG. 5. If the flow starts, stepS132 comes first to check whether or not tempo rubato has been alreadystarted. If not, the flow gees to step S134 to load tempo rubato dataand to make the tempo rubato flag on since step S134 is caused by thecase that the flow in FIG. 5 comes from step S92 to step S98 in responseto the detection of the information of timing to start the tempo rubatowhich is just detected. Next in step S136, an anchorage beat for thetempo rubato is determined, the flow then going to step S138. Theanchorage beat means a supporting timing point for carrying out thetempo rubato, the anchorage beat being normally set at the beat in frontof the beat where the tempo rubato is started. On the other hand, if itis determined in step S132 that tempo rubato has been already started,the flow directly goes to step S138 since it is the case that the flowcomes from step S92 to step S98 in response to the detection of thetempo rubato flag formerly made on in step S134 upon initiation of thetempo rubato.

In step S138, the number of elapsed beats counted from the timing of theanchorage beat is loaded. The flow then goes to step S140 to load one ofthe tempo rubato data corresponding to the number of the elapsed beatsloaded in step S138, the flow then going to step S142. In step S142, itis checked whether or not the loaded tempo rubato data is to extend thelength of tone. In the case of extension of tone, the flow goes to stepS144 to delay the timing of the basic pitch/timing signal from the on-time beat, the flow then going to step S146. On the other hand, ifextension of tone is not detected in step S142, the flow directly goesto step S146. In step S146, it is checked whether or not the loadedtempo rubato data is to reduce the length of tone. In the case ofreduction of tone, the flow goes to step S148 to accelerate the timingof the basic pitch/timing signal on the basis of the on-time beat infront of the beat to be accelerated, the flow then going to step S150.

On the other hand, if reduction of tone is not detected in step S146, itmeans that the tempo rubato data is neither for extension of tone, norfor reduction of tone, but for return from the formally extended orreduced tone to the on-time beat. Therefore, the flow directly goes fromstep S146 to step S150 in this case. In other words, the timing of thepitch/timing signal is neither delayed nor accelerated even during temporubato, but the timing is basically of the pitch/timing signal which isinputted into modification sequencer 60 as it is.

In step S150, one of 1/f fluctuation data is loaded from 1/f fluctuationdata sequential output 68 to modify the delay to introduce 1/ffluctuation. On the basis of the function by the above steps, temporubato timing signal modified with 1/f fluctuation is outputted in stepS152. Further in step S154, the number elapsed beats counted from thetiming of the anchorage beat is incremented, the flow then going to stepS156. In step S156, it is checked whether or not the number of elapsedbeats reaches a predetermined number as a result of the increment, thepredetermined number corresponding to the number of the beats betweenthe anchorage beat and the beat at which the tempo rubato is ended.Thus, if it is determined in step S156 that the number of elapsed beatsreaches the predetermined number, the flow goes to step S158 to put thetempo rubato flag down, the flow then going to the end. On the otherhand, if it is not determined in n step S156 that the number of elapsedbeats reaches the predetermined number, the flow instantly goes to theend. According to the manner explained above, the flow in FIG. 7 isrepeatedly carried out to achieve the tempo rubato at that timing one byone, the total tempo rubato being thus achieved. for a given timeinterval

The various features and advantages according to this invention are notlimited to the disclosed embodiment above, but they are widelyapplicable to various other embodiments which are possible to enjoy oneor more of the advantages of this invention. According to the embodimentexplained above, for example, ritardando modification process 96 iscarried out in a simplified manner as in FIG. 6, in which the ritardandodelay is attained on the basis of the unit retardando data and itsmultiple since ritardand is a simply increasing delay at the endingportion of a piece. However, the detailed manner of achieving ritardandois not limited to the embodiment, but various modifications arepossible. For example, the ritardando modification process can berealized by the detailed manner similar to that in FIG. 7, in whichritardando data for every beat is to be loaded one by one to determinethe delay every time as in the case of tempo rubato.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic music box comprising: a music datamemory arranged to store data of a plurality of pieces of music; arandom table memory arranged to store a random table; and a controllerarranged to automatically determine the next piece of music to be playedin accordance with the random table in the random table memory.
 2. Theelectronic music box according to claim 1, wherein the music data memoryincludes pieces of music within a group and other pieces of musicoutside the group, and wherein the controller is arranged toautomatically determine the next piece of music to be played among thepieces of music within the group.
 3. The electronic music box accordingto claim 2, wherein the controller is arranged to automaticallydetermine a piece for inclusion into the group in accordance with therandom table in the random table memory.
 4. The electronic music boxaccording to claim 2, wherein the controller is arranged toautomatically determine a piece for exclusion from the group inaccordance with the number of played times of the piece.
 5. Theelectronic music box according to claim 1, wherein the controller isarranged to weight a predetermined piece in determining the next pieceof music to be played, whereby the weighted piece has a chance of morefrequently played than the others.
 6. The electronic music box accordingto claim 1, wherein the controller is arranged to have a capability ofplaying the next piece with a tempo similar to that of a precedingpiece.
 7. An electronic music box comprising: a music data memoryarranged to store data of a plurality of pieces of music, the storedpieces of music including pieces of music within a group and otherpieces of music outside the group; and a controller arranged toautomatically determine the next piece of music to be played among thepieces of music within the group.
 8. The electronic music box accordingto claim 7, wherein the controller is arranged to automaticallydetermine the piece to be excluded from the group in accordance with thenumber of played times of the piece.
 9. The electronic music boxaccording to claim 7, wherein the controller is arranged to weight apredetermined piece among the pieces within the group in determining apiece to be excluded from the group, whereby the weighted piece has aless chance of being excluded than the others.
 10. The electronic musicbox according to claim 7, wherein the controller is arranged to weight apredetermined piece among the pieces outside the group in determining apiece to be included into the group, whereby the weighted piece has apriority of being included to the others.
 11. The electronic music boxaccording to claim 7, wherein the controller is arranged toautomatically determine the piece to be excluded from the group withdiscrimination between pieces.
 12. The electronic music box according toclaim 11, wherein the discrimination is by the number of played times ofthe piece.
 13. The electronic music box according to claim 11, whereinthe discrimination is an exception to a predetermined piece not to bedetermined for exclusion.
 14. The electronic music box according toclaim 11, wherein the discrimination is between a piece newly includedinto the group and other older pieces in the group.
 15. The electronicmusic box according to claim 7 further comprising a communicatorarranged to receive data of a piece of music from outside server forstorage in the music data memory, wherein the controller is arranged toautomatically determine a piece to be included into the group so that apiece received by the communicator to be newly stored in the music datamemory is given priority to other older pieces stored in the music datamemory.
 16. The electronic music box according to claim 7, wherein thecontroller is arranged to excluded from the group a piece of a tempodifferent from those of other pieces in the group and to include intothe group a piece of a tempo similar to those of other pieces in thegroup in place of the excluded piece.
 17. An electronic music boxcomprising: a music data memory arranged to store data of a plurality ofpieces of music; and a controller arranged to automatically determinethe next piece of music to be played, the controller being arranged tohave a capability of playing the next piece with a tempo similar to thatof a preceding piece.
 18. The electronic music box according to claim17, wherein the controller is arranged to adopt a piece of a temposimilar to that of the preceding piece to serve as the next piece inplace of a piece of a tempo different from that of the preceding piece.19. The electronic music box according to claim 17, wherein thecontroller is arranged to modify the tempo of the next piece into atempo similar to that of the preceding piece.
 20. The electronic musicbox according to claim 17, wherein the controller is arranged to have afirst mode of sequentially playing the plurality of piece one by one anda second mode of repeating the preceding piece as the next piece of atempo similar to that of the preceding piece.